Social Trends & Tools, Jan 7
ICYMI, here's what happened on social media this week
[Photo by Max van den Oetelaar on Unsplash]
This is a weekly roundup of trending social content and key platform updates to help you catch up and make sense of it all.
😱 Remember When We All Thought the Sunday Scaries Were the Worst Part of This Week
Politics isn’t in the scope of this newsletter but Wednesday’s events at the Capitol were so horrendously momentous, completely dominated social media and will likely shape future platform policies so it would seem strange not to briefly recap how the attempted coup intersected with media, marketing and social:
Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and Twitch banned the President indefinitely, his Twitter access was suspended for 12 hours and Shopify shut down his campaign’s online store. But before you you give anyone credit for supporting a peaceful transfer of power, remember that this comes after years of abuse: “Executives at social media companies have enabled conspiracy theories and hate for years — making billions of dollars…”
Michelle Obama was among those who called on Silicon Valley to stop enabling monstrous behavior and to put in place “policies to prevent their technology from being used by the nation’s leaders to fuel insurrection.” But the rot goes a lot further.
Instagram’s algorithm meant users there probably missed a lot of the news as it was breaking. Then again, the aesthetic was never really meant for bad news.
TikTok proved it could handle hard news with several journalists’ coverage playing a major role in informing users on that platform, including Marcus DiPaola and Yahoo News’ Julia Munslow.
Teens on TikTok noted that congresspeople, after fearing for their lives and sheltering in place, now know what it feels like to be a public school student. And there’s not a lot of sympathy.
The consensus among marketing pros — with some awkward exceptions — was to pause organic and paid campaigns as quickly as possible on Wednesday and not issue self serving statements. Brands, this wasn’t about you and, as was noted, sometimes it’s better to shut up and listen.
🚫 Parenting for Social Clout Is Never a Good Idea
This is an in-depth recounting of the Bean Dad saga. The TL;DR for anyone who missed it was an overbearing dad forcing his distraught 9-year-old to spend over 6 hours figuring out how to operate an old-fashioned can opener before she could eat while he tweeted about it. It was obnoxious for some, triggering for others and led to a tone deaf statement on cancel culture from the original Mr. Bean.
📲 Instagram’s Tips for Making Reels
Instagram shared their advice for creating Reels (in a Carousel post format). The two biggest takeaways are to use the Reels tools for creating content (ie. don’t crosspost TikTok videos) and don’t add unlicensed music. Business Accounts, this was probably meant for you.
😵 Instagram Is Dead. It Just Doesn’t Know It Yet
The “Walmart of Apps” is doomed as Instagram aims to be all things to all people. This Medium article makes a compelling argument, taking into account everything from the platform’s slowing growth and toxic content to influencer unhappiness and Gen Z’s evolving social habits.
Don’t scrap your account just yet, says Jared Brock, but prepare for the platform to move into the “uncool” space Facebook is in now: “The reality is that Instagram will be around for a very, very long time, but in the same way that Myspace and MSN and the last remaining Blockbuster are still around: in a seriously diminished form.”
It’s a good reminder not to depend on just one platform for your success.
🗄 TikTok Teens Love Enterprise Software
Teens are using an all-in-one workspace app as a replacement for their school planners. Notion is like an aesthetically pleasing mashup of Google Drive, Trello or Monday.com and your Notes to-to list — and it’s a teen favorite on TikTok. No surprise, as the lines between work, school, and home have blurred, enterprise software for personal use is becoming more common.
👎 Facebook Is Getting Rid of Page Likes
Social media managers no longer have to try and explain the distinction between Page Likes and Followers. Facebook is paring down to just follower count with its New Pages. Full explanation is here.
🙄 It Was Truly the Strangest Week
That 70s Show actress Tanya Roberts was reported dead. Then she wasn’t. And then she was. RIP. Related note: Ashton Kutcher may want to skip Twitter and text his former costars directly the next time he needs to let them know someone is dead or alive.
